Editorial

Two events separated by five days describe the inadequacy of the Clatsop County Commission's grasp of the prospective liquefied natural gas terminal at Bradwood. On Thursday, the commission voted 4-1 to approve the land-use application for the LNG terminal. On Tuesday, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that specifies the inadequacies of that agency's draft environmental impact statement.

On one hand, the commission's approval of Bradwood Landing's land-use application is utterly serious. At the same time, the commission's unwillingness to reckon with global reality is something out of a bad movie about small-town people selling their souls for a few jobs.

The commission's acceptance of a finding that the LNG terminal project is of "small to medium" size is laughable. It was irresponsible of Commission Chairman Richard Lee to force this decision in the face of so many doubts that have been raised about the safety of communities and Columbia River shipping and fishing traffic.

It is a strikingly obtuse decision in a county that is increasingly progressive, economically diverse and highly dependent on nurturing the Columbia River's existing blend of uses.

Concerns about siting a major LNG terminal in a bucolic rural area are not an instance of knee-jerk opposition to industrial development. Indeed, one of Astoria's chief charms is the continuing viability of its working waterfront. Even at this early stage, there are distinct signs that LNG could swiftly transform from a polite and cooperative house guest into an oblivious glutton that always forces its way to the head of the line, no matter the cost to fishermen and others.

A key element of this area's burgeoning success is its insistence on growing in ways of our own choosing. In contrast, LNG is a classic example of economic colonialism, the sort of business run from thousands of miles away that has abused our hospitality in the distant past. The most damning aspect of the county commission's giving a green light to the Bradwood LNG terminal is the growing realization that the natural gas it would hold and transfer is intended for the California market. It is painful watching Clatsop County prostrate itself for the sole benefit of its more populous, wealthier southern neighbor.

If Commissioners Lee, Jeff Hazen, Ann Samuelson and Patricia Roberts don't realize that Bradwood Landing will flip their terminal to an oil company for a fortune in a matter of years, they are more naive than nefarious. This is 2007. Fortunes are made by flipping capital that is built on the backs of rural rubes.

No one who has closely watched this commission since it took office in January could be surprised at where the LNG discussion would end. While the commission's unilateral and surprising reduction of the district attorney's salary was quite a different topic, one could observe in that action unseemly haste, narrow perspective and a gross misunderstanding of the separation of powers that is at the bedrock of American government.

A similar uninformed bull-headedness is apparent in the commission's progression toward approval of the Bradwood LNG facility. A majority of commissioners has been itching to say "yes" to the Bradwood terminal, perhaps because they perceive it narrowly as a matter of jobs and enlarged property tax base. They completely miss the massive transformation of life on the lower Columbia River that an LNG terminal would force.

In the parlance of boxing, "the fix was in" when Commission Chairman Lee installed hand-picked replacements on the county Planning Commission. (See "Wanna be a planning commissioner?" By Joe Gamm, The Daily Astorian, Nov. 16.)

This topic before the commission last Thursday demanded a worldly discussion. The material for that discussion had been already presented by the commission's planning staff. Only Commissioner Sam Patrick had the courage to call for a lengthier discussion. Commissioner Patricia Roberts briefly found the strength to oppose the steamroller, but she eventually lost her backbone.

Having had our safety ignored by the county commission, we are exceedingly fortunate to have Gov. Kulongoski raise serious doubts about the Bradwood LNG facility.

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